Tampa elementary student wears GoPro camera to document school day

2 years ago

TAMPA, Fla. (970 WFLA) - First day enrollment in Hillsborough County Public Schools is up nearly 4,000 students this year compared to the first day of school last year.

Schools reported enrollment of 190,814 today, up 3,997 from last year. Last year, on the first day of school, the district reported an enrollment increase of 2,863 students compared to the previous year.

After several years of relatively flat enrollment or slight decreases, Hillsborough County Public Schools has seen three years of growth, and this year appears to be continuing that trend.

Historically, it has taken several weeks before the district hits its peak enrollment. This year, the projected enrollment is approximately 205,000. The district will make several student counts over the next weeks, ending with the 20th day count, which is expected to give a true reading of how much the district has grown.

Hillsborough County Public Schools is the nation’s eighth largest district.

Meantime, a Tampa elementary student wears GoPro camera to document school day

TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA.com) -Introducing children to technology in the classroom can be a beautiful thing, but what if the technology is a GoPro camera and the class is a room full of first graders on the first day back to class?

McFarlane Park Elementary in Tampa experimented with one of its students to see what happens when those two worlds collide.

The first grader used in the experiment is Andrew Weber and using the chest harness, his parents strapped the GoPro to their son's body to capture his first day at school.

"We thought it was a novel idea to put a GoPro camera on a child so we could obtain a child's perspective instead of assuming that we as adults know what a child needs," said Andrews mother, May Weber during lunch at the school.

The school principal Dr. Denyse Riveiro said she can't wait to break down the video so she can work on improving the school.

"Some of the areas will be from research of what it looks like. How children are reacting socially. Looking at rules and procedures in place. Looking at how comfortable children feel in the classroom. Looking at the safety stand point. How safe is the classroom. The school environment and for those special features only a six year old would know," Dr. Riveiro said.